Francis Ray

St. Martin's Press

0-31230-050-6

April 2002

(4+) Jeanette Cogdell

Contemporary Romance

PLOT SYNOPSIS: 

REVIEW: 

Wes and Madeline Reed were the perfect couple.  With her popular daytime talk show and his investigative reporting skills, they are always in the public eye.  They have the looks, the money and are so in love.  At least that’s what they allow the public to believe.

Behind closed doors, they are cordial, they have separate bedrooms and see very little of each other.  A tragedy tore their happy marriage apart and Wes wasn’t there for Madeline to share her grief or express his own.  The gap widened over time and Madeline grew tired of the charade.

On the day after winning Broadcaster of the Year, Wes is in a fatal car accident.  With his last breath, he asks Madeline to promise to take care of the baby girl who lost her mother in the same accident.  Then he tells her, his wife, that the child is his.  Madeline is left to deal with the anger, betrayal and grief. 

Wes’ friend Zachary Holman witnessed the accident and is there to help Madeline get through it all.  He coaxes her into taking care of her husband’s six-month old daughter.  All the while hiding his increasing feelings for her, fearing that once she learns about the secret he carries, she’ll never want to see him again.

I KNOW WHO HOLDS TOMORROW is a married woman’s worse nightmare.  I so wanted to hate this hero, but his sweet, caring and loving nature crept right into my heart and stayed there.  I worried through the entire book about how Madeline was going to react once she found out Zack’s secret (and I didn’t even know what the secret was).  Ms. Ray is an expert when it comes to creating remarkable heroes. 

Once I convinced myself that Madeline was too grief-stricken and shocked to realize that Zack knew more than he was revealing, I thoroughly enjoyed this story.

It’s a heartfelt, compelling and captivating tale.  The secondary characters are strong and carry part of the story on their own.  There’s an added bonus of a second romance that is just as poignant as the main one.

Francis Ray is the reason I read romance.  Her smooth, eloquent and easy style of writing makes the story flow for the reader.  Her stories draw you into the world upon which they are written.  I will always be in love with Daniel Falcon from HEART OF THE FALCON, the first romance novel I ever read.

Thank you Ms. Ray and please, please don’t forget your faithful romance fans.

jeanette@romanceincolo.net (15th April 2002)